Nest



R. H. JULIEN NEST Feb. 26, 1924.

File April l0 1923 2 Shets-Sheet 2 Fl. Nfl

WKN. UN

in Il Aria Patented Feb. 26, 1924.

RUDOLPH H. JUL-IEN, 0F COPAS, MINNESOTA.

NEST.

Appneation fn'ea April 1o, 192s. serieu No. 631,152.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, RUDOLPH H. JULIEN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Copas, in the county of TWashington and State of Minnesota, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Nests, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates topoultry nests and the primary object is toY provide means whereby hens of proper weight may be automatically separated from the hens which are under weight so that the poultry owner may be enabled to dispose of the hens which are not up to the standard requirements and retain the more valuable fowls and avoid t-he expense of feeding and raising the non-pro ductive or less profitable fowls. The invention seeks to provide a mechanism which will be operatedby the fowls and will act in such a manner that properly developed fowls will be caused to leave the nest at a different point from the entrance while the light weight fowls will be prevented from.

trated in the accompanying drawings, in

which- Figure 1 is a perspective view of my improved nest viewed from the exit end there of and showing the said end open;

Fig. 2 is a horizontal section with parts broken away, and

Fig. 3 is a central vert-ical longitudinal section.

In carrying out the invention, I employ a housing 1 which may be of any desired form and dimensions and is'shown as of a generally oblong formation having an arched top and provided with a substantial fioor 2. The ends of the housing are open, and doors 3 and l are arranged to close the entrance and exit ends respectively. The door l controlling the exit end of the housing is mounted at or adjacent its lower end upon a hinge rod 5 for swinging movement toward and from the end of the housing and is provided centrally at its lower edge with a vertical notch 6, the purpose of which will presently appear. The door 3 controlling the entrance end of the housing is also mounted upon a hinge rod '7 similar to the hinge rod 5 but disposed above the lower edge of the door, as clearly shown in Fig. 3, so that, when this door is in its lowered position shown in Fig. 2 and in full lines in Fig. 3, thenest-supporting frame 8 will be'supported in an elevated position and the portion of thedoor below the hinge rod will be arrangedv to'act as a lever in effecting th-e closing movement of the door. This door 3 is provided in its upper portion with alongitudinally extending slot 9, and. aY weight 10 is mounted on the door andfadjustable along the said slot,

9, as shown'in Fig. 2, and by setting the weight 10 at any one ofthe graduations, the door will be adjusted so that it will not close unless a fowl weighing at least as muchas the'amount indicated by the graduation .at

which the weight is secured should enter the nest. The nest'12 may be of any desired con'- struction and 'rests upon the nest-supporting frame 8 within the housing and between the doors, and the parts should vbe so proportioned that the weight of the upper portion of the door 3 will balance the weight of the lower portion 'of ythe door, the nest and the nest frame. 4Thenest-carrying frame 8 is pivotally connectedwith the lower edge; of

fthe door 3 and has a slidable connectionV with the hinge rod 5 carrying the door -1, as

shown, vand itmay be ofany desired or preferred form but'is illustrated as consisting of a stout wire or light rod doubled upon itself to present a substantially V-shaped framehaving eyes 13 atene-end to engage as clearly shown. Upon the top of the housing lat the exit end thereof is provided a spring latch 17 which may he engagedl over the upper edge of ,theY door 4 when 1t 1s desiredto utilize the device as a trap nest, and

Vunderweight fowls.

this latch is normally held in inoperative position by a wedge or similar device 13 inserted between the top of the housing and the latch, as shown in Figs. 1 and 3 and as will be readily understood.

It is thought the operation of the nest will be readily understood. The weight 10 is shown in the accompanying drawings as secured to the door 3 at the point indicated by the numeral 3 upon the scale of graduations 11. Vfhen thus set, if a hen weighing three pounds or more should enter the housing, when she enters the nest 12 her weight will depress the nest and the frame 8 causing the same to swing downwardly about the hinge rod 5 and at the same time slide inwardly inasmuch as the downward movement of the nest will cause the lower end of the door 3 to swing downwardly and voutwardly about the hinge rod 7 so that the door will swing up to the closed position indicated by the dotted lines in Fig. 3. The movement of the door 3 will be transmitted through the link 16 to the door 4 so that f said door will be swung downwardly to the position shown in Fig. 1 and in dotted lines in Fig. 3, and the hen will consequently be prevented from leaving the housing through the same end at which she entered and will pass out over the door 4 as is obvious. lVhen the hen leaves the nest, she will at once step upon the door 4 and her weight will continue to act to hold the door 3 in its raised closed position, but as soon as the door 4 is relieved of the weight of the hen, the door 3 will swing downwardly inasmuch as the weight of said door combined with the weight 10 will overbalance the door 4 and the parts will be restored to the initial position shown in full lines in Fig. 3. Should a hen weighing less than three pounds enter the housing and step upon the nest, her weight will be insul'licient to close the door 3 and, therefore, the door 4 rwill remain closed and the fowl will be obliged to leave bythe same opening through which she entered and will return to the flock of It will be understood that the nest is to be located in a partition between two runways or pens and eventually all'the light weight owls will be separated from those of standard weight without any attention on the part of the owner, and the underweight fowls may ther. be sold while the good layers may be retained for the eggs. If it be desired to .operate the nest as a trap nest, the link 16 is released from the entrance-controlling door 3 and the wedge 18 withdrawn so that the latch 1T will engage the exit-controlling door 4 and prevent downward movement of the saine. Then when a hen enters the nest, her weight will operate the door 3 so as to close the same and both doors will remain closed until the owner or caretaker opens the door 3 so as to release the hen. He will then be enabled to make any examination which may be desired, or mark or treat the hen in case necessity should require the administration, of medicine or disinfectants, or any other operation incident to the care of poultry should be needed.

My device is exceedingly simple in its construction and compact in the arrangement of its several elements. It operates automatically and with certainty so that no attention on the part of the owner is needed in order to keep it in operative condition. The nest 12 rests loosely upon the frame 8 and may be removed when cleaning of the nest is necessary by merely sliding it out over said frame and either door. The doors, the nest and the housing may conveniently be made from sheet metal so that they may be produced at a low cost and will be strong and durable.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

1. The combination of a housing having open ends, doors mounted for swinging movement near the bottom of the housing to close the respective ends thereof, a nest mounted within the housing and connected directly with the door controlling the entrance end thereof whereby a predetermined weight imposed upon the nest will close said door, and a connection between the upper portions of the doors whereby the door controlling the exit end will be opened as the door controlling the entrance end is closed.

2. The combination of a housing having open ends, doors controlling said ends and mounted toV swing `downwardly from the respective ends, the door controlling the entrance end of the housing being hingedly mounted at a point above its lower edge, a nest mounted within the housing and having pivotal connection with the lower edge of said door, and a connection between the upper portions of the doors whereby when the door controlling the entrance end of the housing is closed the other door will be opened.

3. The combination of a housing having i open ends, a door controlling the entrance end of the housing and pivotally supported at a point near but above its lower edge, a door controlling the exit end of the housing and pivotally ymounted at its lower edge, a nest-supporting frame having pivotal engagement at one end with the lower edge of the entrance-controlling door and having slidable engagement at its opposite end with the pivot of the exit-controlling door, and a nest resting on said frame.

4. The combination of a housing having open ends, a door controlling the entrance end of the housing and pivotally mounted at a point above its lower edge, a door pivotally mounted at its loWel` edge and provided at said ed e with a. longitudinally extending slot, a lin connecting said doors, above the pivots thereof, a nest-supporting 5 frame having pivotal connection at one end with the lower edge of the entrance controlling door and provided at its opposite RUDOLPH H. JULIEN. [1.. 5.]

end With a slotted tongue slidably engagin the pivot of the exit Controlling door an a. nest resting on said frame.

In testimony whereof I aiix my signature.

playing through the slot in said door, and 10Y l Y 

